Customer Reviews

Let Every Nation Know With Audio CD

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A must have book for all age groups interested in the life and times of JFK. To hear the actual speeches of JFK on CD are inspirational and even in this day and age very moving. The book and CD transported me back to that era even though I was 8 at the time and brought back many memories.
An excellent book.Highly recommended.

The combination of audio CD and written commentary make this a `must have' for the serious student of oratory and contemporary American politics. Writers Dallek and Golway present over 30 speeches (some edited) from one of the finest political orators of the 20th century.

The vast majority of the speeches are probably well known to Kennedy aficionados, but probably only in written form. It is a delight to hear such a diverse range of speeches ranging from early in his campaign - January 1960 thru November 21 1963, the day before his assassination.

The authors give a profile / overview of each speech. By its nature, these have to be brief and do not provide a lot of detail. For those interested in learning more about Kennedy's speech development, read Theodore Sorensen's Counselor, Thurston Clarke's Ask Not and Richard Tofel's Sounding the Trumpet.

Occasions make great speeches. Kennedy was a fine orator who came to power at a time of great tension, achievement and change. The words he spoke when put in this context have become memorable. Thus Kennedy's address to protestant ministers of the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, his inaugural, the Berlin crisis address and the Cuban missile crisis address are memorable not just because of well crafted words, well delivered, but because they were important narrative about crucial events.

The presidential debates with Richard Nixon feature prominently in the book. Many historians suggest that those listening on radio thought Nixon won the debate. I have never seen statistics to support that point, but Nixon does come across as well as Kennedy on audio although much of the Vice-President's commentary was pretty ironic given what we now know of the only man to resign the presidency.

Kennedy's final speech on November 21st is worthwhile because of its poignant closeness to his assassination one day later.
Overall, this is one of those books / CDs that you will constantly refer back to. Well worth adding to your library.

Let Every Nation Know: John F. Kennedy in His Own Words examines the public speeches of President Kennedy. From his presidential campaign to his last speech in 1963, authors Robert Dallek and Terry Golway guide us through the setting and significance of his notable addresses.

Even today, Kennedy's words reverberate through the collective consciousness of our nation. His inaugural remains one of the most inspiring and well-remembered in American history. In fact, as the authors argue, his skill with words is one of the key factors to his continued popularity four decades later.

An innovative feature of this book that I especially enjoyed is the accompanying audio CD. For each chapter there is a clip from the corresponding speech. After reading the background, you can enjoy hearing the President "in his own words." This is a tremendous bonus for this book, and I hope other authors utilize this concept.

Though I have never been a great fan of President Kennedy, I found myself enjoying this book immensely. As someone whose vocation requires public speaking, I find reading, hearing, and understanding what great speakers say, and how they say it, beneficial. More than that, it is enjoyable to observe a master communicator. There is no question that Kennedy was skilled when it came to using his "bully pulpit" to accomplish his agenda, but he was equally skilled in the art of speaking.

Most effective presidents, especially those who are enduringly popular, were good communicators (Consider Lincoln, FDR, Reagan). In the words of the authors, "Substantive presidential accomplishments seem to have less of a sustaining hold on Americans than does memorable presidential language in public addresses." This book proves that principle is certainly true in the presidency of John F. Kennedy.

Robert Dallak and Terry Goldway bring to life masterfully in Kennedy's own words a portrait of an age with a president that was young but gifted politician. From the "Ask Not" Speech to the speech of the Berlin Wall, Kennedy's voice enhances the masterful biography of all Kennedy's charm, love of words, and deep, moral conscience. To me, it brings back the era when the world was on nuclear hair-trigger alert, the press was oppressing, and CIA secrets were gossip for the public. However, I do not think middle school students should read this book because the words of kennedy are still to deep to grasp at this age. The words of Kennedy cut deep into this nation's very soul, and continues to do so.

Listening to the accompaning CD is both stimulating and depressing. The literacy and restraint of Kennedy's language so starkly contrasts to what we hear from the current administration. There is much irony as well. In the clip from the debates, Nixon tells the voters that as president he will be a role model for the nation's youth, just as Ike had been. But most depressing is the way this book and CD demonstrate the change in what voters now find persuasive. These are not sound bits or simple messages. These are intelligent and sophisticated speeches. These speeches suggest that Kennedy assumed that the voters were intelligent and that he respected their intelligence. Compare that to the current, simplistic messages that accuse opponents of being in league with al Qaeda. While Nixon was no stranger to the simplistic attack, it is striking to listen to his language and compare it to the current Republican leadership. To suggest that an early time was better is almost a cliche, but when you read and listen to these speeches the evidence seems overwhelming. This was a time when many of our leaders spoke with eloquence and addressed complex issues (Stevenson, Dirkson, Mansfield, Nelson Rockefeller, Robert Kennedy, and many others). More importantly, the voters seemed to actually listen to these speeches. There are great lessons in this modest volume.

This was the kind of book that once I started reading I couldn't put down. I finished it very quickly.

I was five years old when he was killed. He was the first President I remember first hand. I remember that in Kindergarden we were told that President George Washington was the Father of our country. In my five year old mind, I thought JFK was the Father of our country, because he too was President like George Washington. This book gave me a chance to hear in his own words what was going on in a time I barely remember as a young child.

His words still speak to us today. This book for me was what I needed to read at this time to remind me of what is important. We as a country have moved so far away from the vision of JFK and it has inspired me to get back to my roots and to get back on track and to try and get our country back on track.

We do not have any recordings of the actual voice of our earlier presidents. What did Washington, or Jefferson, or Adams sound like? How did they deliver speeches? But we do have good, high quality recordings of our recent presidents. And one of the best public speakers, one of the best at reaching the public to explain his ideas was John F. Kennedy.

This book is a complation of JFK speeches. Some of the best are given background information as to the climate of the time, the speechwriter, and other inside information. Then the speech is given, usually in both printed and recorded form on the CD that is enclosed. Some of these are shortened (the CD runs some 80 minutes).

To those of us who remember the time, these speeches bring back a time of the passion of our youth. To younger people, perhaps this can be a link to the times of their parents.

What does John F. Kennedy have in common with Presidents Ronald Reagan, Washington, Lincoln, and FDR? For over forty years these five Presidents have consistently polled as the greatest (Reagan in later years). Some may find it curious that a U.S. President would be so highly regarded when all of his major initiatives were still pending in Congress when he died. A major tax cut, federal aid to education at all levels, healthcare for the aged and indigent, and a civil rights bill were all left to the Johnson administration.

Foreign affairs were no better. The Bay of Pigs, a failed attempt to murder Castro, a poor showing in Vienna with Kruschev and the enduring legacy of Viet Nam.

Finally, his compulsive womanizing was legendary. How then, does he so consistently rank in the top five?

Dallek and Golway, authors of Let Every Nation Know cover these points and ask these questions in the preface. They also offer their explanation of Kennedy's long term popularity. War time heroics, diplomacy in the face of crisis (Cuban missiles) and inspiring rhetoric make the forty-six year old President forever young in our memories and a sentimental favorite. As they explain, the term sound bite had not been invented and Kennedy spoke in "literate paragraphs, and his speeches were filled with references to history and literature that have all but disappeared from American political discourse."

Even Kennedy's "inspirational rhetoric" wasn't immune from criticism. Theodore Sorensen, the man JFK called his "intellectual blood bank" was a gifted writer and adviser. Sorensen wrote much of the book for which Kennedy was awarded a Pulitzer Prize and many of the famous lines from the most memorable speeches. Still, when listening to the CD included with Let Every Nation Know, it's easy to forgive and forget.

The enthusiasm and sincerity come through loud and clear, charming and convincing listeners that what they are hearing is greatness itself. The CD evokes a range of emotions from the heat of the campaign, humor with supporters and Dubliners, a firm resolve directed to adversaries (Kruschev) and, finally, sadness hearing his brothers after "That Day".

An audio CD containing thirty-four tracks accompanies the book which is divided into four parts. First comes the pre-presidential speeches, then a section for each of the three years he served. The book supports the CD with summaries of each part and commentaries on the speeches. January 20, 2011, was the fiftieth anniversary of Kennedy's inauguration. Listening to him now makes it easy to slip into a sixties reverie and speculate on how different the world might be had he lived.

Here's a unique coverage: a political biography honed from John F. Kennedy's own words blending an audio CD with the insights of two notable historians. From issues ranging from Peace Corps politics to Kennedy's debates before his Presidency and his preparations for war, LET EVERY NATION KNOW proves far more compelling - and provides far more insights - than most.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch